Tuesday, December 2, 2008

Sounding and Grounding New Hampshire

Hello all! My name is Eric Ramseur and I am very interested in your region of the United States. I'm sure I sound like an alien or maybe just a foreigner who has been so bored that New Hampshire sounds appealing, but I am truly interested in your area of the United States. I am planning on planting or rebuilding a church in your state. I am a preacher who preaches for the church of Christ. We are not a denomination, nor are we nondenominational (all inclusive). Rather, we are New Testament Christians who believe that there are to be no divisions among the body of Christ and the Bible is our only authority because it is from God. There are nine total churches of Christ in New Hampshire that are still surviving. Per capita, this is not enough. That is why I am so interested in your area of the United States. In Acts 1:8 Christ said that the apostles were going to be His witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and the remotest parts of the earth. Well, there are still some remote parts of the world that are left. The apostles covered those parts in their day, and now it is our turn. While, there are congregations in New Hampshire that call themselves Christians, there are certain aspects of Christianity that these sincere people have to attain to. The truth of the gospel of Christ needs to be spread into all of the world. It is my belief that the spreading needs to start in your own back yard. When Paul and Barnabas set out to preach to the world, they went to Cyprus first, which is where Barnabas was from.While I am idealistic, I am also reasonable and pragmatic. I understand that this work is not going to be easy in the least. That is why I am training to preach, teach and lead at the Bear Valley Bible Institute of Denver. I am also planning on having other competent men with my family in New Hampshire along with their families. There is a lot of work that needs to be done. It is more than imperative. It is our spiritual obligation of love to do this work. This work is not about numbers. It is not about filling seats and it certainly is not about our wallets or fame. This is about saving souls. I must decrease so that Christ may increase. This will be a labor of love and while this mission is about unity it is also about division. It is about dividing sound doctrine and sound people from the world and denominational teaching. 1 Timothy 2:13-14 says ﻿"Retain the ﻿﻿standard of ﻿sound words ﻿which you have heard from me, in the ﻿faith and love which are in ﻿﻿Christ Jesus. Guard, through the Holy Spirit who ﻿﻿dwells in us, the ﻿treasure which has been entrusted to you." So there is something to be retained- that is the standard of sound words- and there is something to be guarded- that is the treasure which has been entrusted. The treasure is the standard of sound words or the testimony of Christ which Paul over and over tells Timothy that he need not be ashamed because he is not (2 Timothy 1:8; 12, 16; 2:15). We must not be ashamed of sound teaching because Paul, through inspiration, says that it is to be retained and guarded. Christ has guarded (2 Timothy 1:12) and so shall we.I am excited to meet you all. If you would please respond and let me know what you all think, what your beliefs are, and your willingness to study (yourself and the population as a whole). The truth is very important. Jesus says that He is the way, the life, and the truth. No one comes to the Father except through Him (John 14:6). So, it is important to have sound teaching and be grounded in the word of God. I love you all and I love your love for the truth. So, if you would get back to me so that we can talk about the future of New Hampshire it would be greatly appreciated.

"Suffer hardship with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier." 2 Timothy 2:3-4

Eric, I am a member of the Manchester Church of Christ in Manchester, NH. It is exciting to me that you are so interested in coming to NH to help grow the Lord's church! I will forward the link to your blog to others in our church. I'm sure they will want to encourage you as I do. Although we are small in number, we are a vibrant group of God's people who really want to expand the Kingdom where we live. I hope that you will continue to seek out connections to NH Christians who can guide you as you prepare to transition to our beautiful state. New Englanders are different, but very loveable and interesting. We moved here from TX 12 years ago, and I wouldn't want to be anywhere else!

Hello Eric, I am glad to read your blog and find some more people interested in joining the ministry here in New Hampshire. I graduated from Harding University in Searcy, AR with a B.Min. and worked with Outreach America while there. OA focuses on planting churches of Christ in North America and they helped me find a ministry position here in Manchester, NH. The church here is a church plant and desires to become a church planting church. We have not accomplished this yet but have a desire to head in that direction. I would love to talk to you more about your desire to work in NH and simply get to know you. Have you taken any trips here to visit or will you be coming any time soon?

I have not yet made a trip to New Hampshire, but my best friend married my ex-girlfriend and her parents live in New Hampshire, so they're my connection to New Hampshire at this moment. Her dad is an elder at the Lakes Region congregation... Robert Blouin. I'd like to make a trip up their sometime before I get out of school, but time, money and preaching obligations are hard to work around. My wife and I have decided that she's going to go back to school and finish her Masters in Nursing before we go into a work as financially dependant as church planting will be. With the way the economy is at this moment and with the lack of funds to pay preachers and evangelists it just wouldn't be smart to go up there without being self supporting first. I don't want to seem like I have a lack of faith, I just want to be smart about my work for the Lord. I'd love to keep in touch and talk about some more things so if you two want to give me your e-mail addresses that would be great.

if you ever want to take a survey trip up here i have 3 extra bedrooms in my house that you and anyone you want to bring with you would be welcome to. i know traveling gets expensive as i was on a church plant team in san francisco for 3 years....if it wouldnt have been for people opening up thier homes it wouldnt have been possible. shoot me an email sometime and i'll fill you in a little more about what ive got going on here in manch and what ive picked up on in being here for a little over a year.

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About Me

I am proud to have been raised in the great city of Clarksville, TN. I have a wonderful Lord and Savior. I am married to Brianna (Turner) Ramseur and we have four beautiful children. I graduated from the Bear Valley Bible Institute of Denver. I am a preacher, currently located in Georgia. Check out my blog... Neotetos